Each year, the Cleveland Cavaliers head out into the community for the Season of Giving, a series of charitable visits and events designed to spread the holiday spirit to the ailing or underprivileged in the community. This year, the Wine & Gold tipped off this year’s Season of Giving by teaming up with LIBBY'S® Pumpkin to deliver Thanksgiving meals to families all over the Cleveland community.
Gee’s Gobble Gobble Giveaways
Cavs forward Alonzo Gee went the distance in making sure families were fed for Turkey Day – literally! Beginning in his hometown of Riviera Beach, Florida, Gee hosted a turkey giveaway for approximately 150 local families at the Wells Recreation Center. He then brought his “Gobble Gobble Giveaway” back to the 216, where he hosted two turkey giveaways on Sunday, November 24th. With the help of LIBBY'S® Pumpkin and Cavaliers mascots Moondog and Sir C.C, Gee was able to provide 200 pre-selected families with a turkey and a bag of Thanksgiving essentials.
Cavs Give Thanks with Project ACT
The following night, the Cavaliers and LIBBY'S® Pumpkin, in partnership with ARAMARK, welcomed 200 pre-selected guests from Cleveland’s Project ACT for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Cavs’ Anthony Bennett, Kyrie Irving, Earl Clark, Matthew Dellavedova and Jarrett Jack, along with mascots Moondog and Sir C.C. and LIBBY'S® employees, manned the carving stations alongside ARAMARK chefs and served turkey and a family-style dinner. For dessert, the Cavaliers family pulled up a chair and mingled with their guests over homemade pumpkin and apple pies.
Tristan Thompson’s Turkey Giveaway
As the official Cavaliers 2013 Season of Giving Ambassador, Cavs’ forward Tristan Thompson hosted a turkey giveaway for 150 pre-selected families from the Glenville community, with support from LIBBY'S® Pumpkin. This was Thompson’s second annual giveaway, where each family received a turkey and a bag of fixins’ just in time for Thanksgiving day.
“The Cavaliers are proud to team up with LIBBY’S Pumpkin on these Season of Giving events to help provide some additional families across Northeast Ohio the opportunity to enjoy a better Thanksgiving with their loved ones,” said Kerry Bubolz, President of Business Operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “It means a lot to our players, our coaching staff and our entire organization to be able to give back to children and families in need in our community.”
“LIBBY’S Pumpkin and Nestlé are excited to be partnering with the Cavaliers to help bring Thanksgiving to families in the Cleveland area,” said Al Multari, President of LIBBY'S Baking Division, Nestlé. “Nestlé has been part of the Cleveland area for generations and giving back to the community is the right thing to do. We sincerely hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving dinner, especially the Libby’s pumpkin pie.”
To see full coverage of this week’s Season of Giving events, including a photo gallery and recap video, please visit www.cavs.com/community.
The Cavaliers will continue their 2013 Season of Giving throughout the month of December. By using the hashtags #NBAGiveBIG #CLE on Twitter and Instagram, fans can join the Wine & Gold by sharing photos, videos and stories from their seasonal community projects between Monday, November 25th through Tuesday, December 31st. The NBA will aggregate all photos on its website at www.NBA.com/NBAGiveBIG and allow users to sort charitable activity by team to learn how people are giving back in each city.
Watch Video: Season of Giving